Lens-fitted photo film unit and data recording method therefor

ABSTRACT

A lens-fitted photo film unit contains a cartridge shell into which an IC memory is incorporated, and a roll of photo filmstrip having a magnetic recording layer. Unit ID data and date-of-manufacture data are written in the IC memory in the factory. A data recording circuit is provided on a flash circuit board. The data recording circuit is connected to the IC memory through a printed circuit board mounted to a cartridge chamber of the film unit. A finder mask and a photo sensor for detecting the position of the finder mask are mounted in the film unit. The photo sensor is connected to the data recording circuit, to write photographic data corresponding to the output of the photo sensor in the IC memory at each exposure. Before printing, the data written in the IC memory is read to be recorded on the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip by use of an external recording device which is connectable to the IC memory through an interface terminal which is exposed to an exterior of the film unit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a data recording method for recordingphotographic data in an IC memory during photography, and on a magneticrecording layer formed on a filmstrip. The present invention relatesalso to a lens-fitted photo film unit having a data recording device forrecording photographic data in an IC memory during photography.

2. Background Arts

A new type photo film cartridge, called IX 240 type or Advanced PhotoSystem type, has recently been put on the market. The IX 240 type filmcartridge contains a photo filmstrip having a transparent magneticrecording layer, as is disclosed in December 1994 issue of SHASHINKOGYO, p.11, published by Shashin Kogyo Shuppan Co. Ltd., InternationalPatent Publication WO 90/04214, and so forth. The magnetic recordinglayer is used to record photographic data or the like which is producedby the camera, and read it to utilize for printing and other purpose.

The photographic data written on the magnetic recording layer mayinclude exposure data such as shutter speed, aperture size and lightsource, print format data designating one of standard, panoramic andcine size. If the camera has a device to designate a trimming orclopping range, as disclosed in JPA 54-26721, the trimming range may beincluded in the print format data. Also, date data or optional characterdata for printing the date of photograph or the title or comments inaddition to the photographed scene.

The photographic data can be read out in a photo-lab. For example, theexposure data is utilized for controlling exposure in printing. Theprint format data is utilized for automatic setting of the printmagnification, the film mask and the paper mask, so that it is possibleto automatically make prints in the different formats according to thephotographer's request even when the original frames on the filmstriphave a constant size. Since the date data or the character data read outfrom the magnetic recording layer makes it possible to photographicallyprint character information on the photo paper concurrently with theimage printing, those optical data recording devices incorporated inconventional cameras are not necessary. The character data may includedata of printing position, printing posture, printing size and printingcolor, so that it can innovate in the optical data recording forphoto-prints.

Camera type data on the magnetic recording layer may be utilized fordetermining whether print-exposure correction is necessary or not.Recording number-of-print data with such a frame from which a knownplural number of prints are to made, permits obtaining the necessarynumber of prints immediately after the development, so that thephotographer need not order extra printing. The magnetic recording layermay be used for recording data in the photo-lab, such as the number ofextra prints, print-exposure correction data, and the reception date andreception number of print order.

For the magnetic recording on the photo film, the camera must have amagnetic recording device comprised of a magnetic head and a magnetichead driving circuit. Because the photo film is certainly stiffer thanordinary magnetic audio or video recording tapes, it is necessary tosupport the magnetic head or the photo film in a specific fashion tomaintain the head in proper contact with the magnetic recording layerduring the recording. Moreover, because the magnetic recording should beaccomplished while the photo film is advanced one frame after eachexposure at changeable or unstable speed, it is necessary to adjust thedata recording speed to the film advancing speed. Accordingly, themagnetic head driving circuit have to be complicated and expensive.

For the reasons as above, it is commercially impossible to incorporate amagnetic recording device for the photo film into economy type camerasor single-use cameras including lens-fitted photo film units preloadedwith unexposed photo film. Hereinafter, the lens-fitted photo film unitswill be referred to as film units. Without the magnetic recording, thephotographer cannot make the best of the IX 240 type film cartridge,though the IX 240 type is preferable for the compact cameras and thefilm units because it is smaller and lighter than conventional filmcartridges.

On the other hand, JPA 56-154720 and JPA 2-217829 disclose a photo filmcartridge with an IC memory or semiconductor memory, and a system forrecording photographic data as above in the IC memory so as to permitthe photographer or the photofinisher to utilize the photographic data.This IC memory system functions substantially in the same way as theabove magnetic recording system, and the cost can be lower than themagnetic recording system. Accordingly, it has been studied to introducethe IC memory system into the cheap cameras and the film units.

For example, a data recording circuit for recording data in the ICmemory may be provided on the same printed circuit board as the flashcircuit of the film unit, and may be supplied from the battery for theflash circuit. In that case, however, it is necessary to wire from thedata recording circuit on the flash circuit board to a data recordingterminal in a cartridge chamber, to access the IC memory of the photofilm cartridge. Wiring is so hard to automate, that it would requiremanual assembly steps, and raise the manufacturing cost of the filmunit. Since the flash circuit board is determined to be reused, thecircuit board must be easy to dissemble even if it has the datarecording circuit connected to the IC memory. Furthermore, the wiringfrom the flash circuit board to the cartridge chamber should notremarkably enlarge the size of the film unit.

There is another problem in the IC memory system. Once the photo film isseparated from the cartridge shell with the IC memory, it is impossibleto correlate the photo film with the photographic data written in the ICmemory. For correlation, JPA 2-217829 discloses recording identical orcorresponding indicia on both the photo film and the cartridge shell. Ifthe indicia on the photo film or the portion having the indicia isdamaged, the correlation becomes impossible. Also, it is necessary tocorrelate the respective frames on the photo film with the photographicdata with reference to other indicia provided for indicating theposition or the serial number of each frame, such as notches or barcode.

JPA 4-306628 discloses a film unit attached with a date memory devicefor storing the date of photographing in an IC memory such as SRAM orEEPROM. The date memory device is removable from the film unit, andincludes a clock section and a control section besides the IC memory.The date memory device and the used photo film cartridge are removedfrom the film unit in the photo-lab. The exposed photo film isdeveloped, and the date memory device is set in a specific photo printeralong with the corresponding photo film, so that the date data is readfrom the IC memory, to print the date of photography in an appropriateposition of the photo paper in association with each image.Alternatively, the date of photography is optically recorded on thephoto film before development, based on the date data written in the ICmemory. Thereby, the date of photography will always be printed with theimage.

It may be possible to provide a memory device in the film unit to writenot only date data but also other photographic data in an IC memory ofthe memory device. However, it is hard to optically record all pieces ofphotographic data on the photo film before development. Therefore, it isdesirable to permit recording the photographic data read from the ICmemory on the magnetic recording layer of the photo film.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A prime object of the present invention is provide a data recordingmethod which permits recording photographic data on the magneticrecording layer of the photo film which is exposed in the film unit orthe economy type camera that has no magnetic recording device therein.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a film unit whichis able to record data in an IC memory, easy to assemble and dissemble,and thus suitable for reuse.

To achieve the above object, according to the present invention, an ICmemory and a data recording device are provided in a unit body of a filmunit such that photographic data is written in the IC memory at eachexposure through the data recording device.

After the cartridge shell containing a full length of the exposed photofilmstrip therein is removed from the unit body, an external devicereads the data from the IC memory of the unit body, to record the dataon the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip before printing.

According to a preferred embodiment, data specific to the lens-fittedphoto film unit is written in the IC memory during manufacturing.

According to another preferred embodiment, the external device isconnectable to an interface terminal of the data recording device, whichis exposed to outside of the unit body.

Alternatively, an IC memory is incorporated into a cartridge shell,whereas a data recording circuit is mounted on a flash circuit board.The IC memory and the data recording circuit are connected through aninterconnection device which is mounted to a cartridge chamber. Afterthe cartridge shell containing a full length of the exposed photofilmstrip therein is removed from the unit body, an external devicereads data from the IC memory of the cartridge shell to record the dataon the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip withdrawn fromthe cartridge shell.

It is preferable to write data specific to a photo film unit in the ICmemory of the cartridge shell, before loading the cartridge shell andthe photo filmstrip in the photo film unit.

A lens-fitted photo film capable of writing data in an IC memory andeasy to assemble comprises:

an IC memory incorporated into the cartridge shell;

an interconnection device mounted to the cartridge chamber, theinterconnection device being connected to the IC memory of the cartridgeshell contained in the cartridge chamber, and having an externalterminal exposed to an exterior of the cartridge chamber;

a flash circuit board having a flash circuit of a built-in flash devicemounted thereon, the flash circuit board being attached to a front ofthe film roll chamber;

a data recording circuit mounted on the flash circuit board, forrecording data in the IC memory, the data recording circuit having anextension extending from the flash circuit board toward the cartridgechamber, a data output terminal being disposed on a tip of the extensionfor outputting the data to the external terminal of the interconnectiondevice through a contact connection or a non-contact connection.

According to a preferred embodiment, the extension is formed integrallywith the flash circuit board, and the interconnection device comprises aprinted circuit board attached to the cartridge chamber in a removablefashion. A plurality of metal contact pins are mounted to the printedcircuit board, and protrude into the cartridge chamber to contact acontact member of the cartridge shell for connection to the IC memory.The external terminal is formed integrally with the printed circuitboard, and is disposed so as to be connected to the data output terminalonly by attaching the flash circuit board to the front of the film rollchamber.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent from the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings,which are given by way of illustration only and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, wherein like reference numerals designate likeor corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a film unit having an ICmemory, according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a photo film cartridge contained in thefilm unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the photo filmstrip of the filmcartridge of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a magnetic data recording device foruse with the film unit of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating the sequence of a photo printingsystem for the film unit of FIG. 1, using the magnetic data recordingdevice of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of a film unit according to asecond embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a photo film cartridge having an ICmemory, for use in the film unit of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary section of the film unit of FIG. 6, illustratingessential parts to this embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a magnetic data recording device foruse with the film cartridge of FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart illustrating the sequence of a photo printingsystem for the film unit of FIG. 6, using the magnetic data recordingdevice of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an exploded perspective view of a film unit according to athird embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of a photo film cartridge havingan IC memory, for use in the film unit of FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary section of the film unit of FIG. 11,illustrating essential parts to this embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a block diagram of a circuit unit consisting of a flashcircuit and a data recording circuit, according to another embodiment ofthe invention;

FIG. 15 is a detailed block diagram of the circuit unit of FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a detailed block diagram of the recording control IC of thecircuit unit of FIG. 14; and

FIG. 17 is a flow chart illustrating the sequence of a photo printingsystem for the film unit of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 1 shows a film unit according to an embodiment of the invention,which contains an IX 240 type photo film cartridge 2. As shown in FIG.2, a cartridge shell 5 of the photo film cartridge 2 consists of a pairof plastic shell halves 3 and 4, and a roll of photo filmstrip 6 iscoiled around a spool 7 which is rotatable in the cartridge shell 5. Thephoto film strip 6 can be advanced out of the cartridge shell 5 througha film port 8 in response to an unwinding rotation of the spool 7. Adoor member 9 is disposed behind the film port 8. The door member 9 isrotated to open the film port 8 when to pass the photo filmstrip 6through the film port 8, or close the film port 8 in a light-tightfashion when to shield the interior of the cartridge shell 5 fromambient light. The spool 7 and the door member 9 have key grooves 7a and9a which are exposed to the outside of the cartridge shell 5 at endfaces thereof, so as to permit rotating the spool 7 and the door member9 from outside. A film advancing mechanism of the IX 240 type photo filmcartridge is disclosed in detail for example in U.S. Pat. No. 5,476,232.

The photo filmstrip 6 has a transparent magnetic recording layer on itsback surface, which permits recording photographic data or photo-labdata necessary for printing. In the factory, an ID number isphotographically recorded on one side of each photo filmstrip 6 in theform of a latent image of bar code. In addition to the latent image, itis possible to record the ID number and film type data on the magneticrecording layer in the factory. A bar code label 12 is put on thecartridge shell 5 to indicate the same ID number as the photo filmstrip6 has, to correlate the cartridge shell 5 with the photo filmstrip 6.The photo film cartridge 2 also has a bar code disc 13 having bar codeprinted thereon to indicate the film type and the number of availableexposures. The bar code disc 13 rotates with the spool 7.

A unit body 18 of the film unit is constituted of a body base portion20, an exposure unit 21, a flash unit 22, a front cover 23, and a rearcover 24. The body base portion 20 has an exposure chamber 25, acartridge chamber 26 and a film roll chamber 27 as an integral moldedpart. In a dark room of the factory, the photo filmstrip 6 is withdrawnfrom the cartridge shell 5, and is loaded in the film roll chamber 27 inform of a roll 6a, while the cartridge shell 5 is loaded in thecartridge chamber 26.

The exposure unit 21 is an assembly having a taking lens, a shuttermechanism, a film advancing mechanism, a frame counter mechanism and aviewfinder optical system 29. A film advancing wheel 28 is mounted atopof the cartridge chamber 26 such that an axle of the film advancingwheel 28 engages the key groove 7a of the spool 7 of the cartridge shell5. The film advancing wheel 28 is rotatable in a counterclockwisedirection in the drawing, to rotate the spool 7 to wind the photofilmstrip 6 into the cartridge shell 5. The photo filmstrip 6 isprovided with a pair of perforations 6b per frame, each pair is spacedfrom another pair at a regular interval corresponding to one frame, asis shown in FIG. 3. A not-shown sprocket member of the film advancingmechanism is engaged in the pair of perforations 6b each time the photofilmstrip 6 is advanced by one frame, thereby locking the film advancingwheel 28. While the photo filmstrip 6 is advanced by one frame, theshutter mechanism is charged in cooperation with the film advancingmechanism. When the shutter mechanism is released to expose a frame 10on the photo filmstrip 6, the film advancing wheel 28 is unlocked. Thus,the photo filmstrip 6 is wound into the cartridge shell 5 one frameafter each exposure. The frames 10, 10a, 10b . . . are formed in thesame size throughout the filmstrip 6.

Unlike a conventional 135-type photo film cartridge wherein the spoolalone is required to be externally rotatable, the IX 240 type photo filmcartridge 2 need to be loaded in a camera or the film unit such that thedoor member 9, as well as the spool 7, is externally rotatable. That is,the key groove 9a of the door member 9 must be engaged with a key memberprovided in the cartridge chamber 26, while the key groove 7a of thespool 7 must be engaged with the axle of the film advancing wheel 28. Tofacilitate positioning the photo film cartridge 2, the cartridge shell 5is held at the ends of the spool 7 in the cartridge chamber 26 so as tobe rotatable about the spool 7.

The flash unit 22 is constituted of a flash circuit board 30 and a flashemitting portion 31 attached to the flash circuit board 30. On thecircuit board are mounted a main capacitor 32 for charging electricpower for a flash, a synchronizing switch 33, and a AA type dry cellbattery as a power source 34. When a charge switch 35 is pushed by anoperation member 36 of the front cover 23 onto a switch pattern 37formed on the flash circuit board 30, the main capacitor 32 starts beingcharged. The synchronizing switch 33 is turned on at the moment when theshutter mechanism is released. An output signal generated when thesynchronizing switch 33 is turned on is used as a timing signal forflashing, and also as an exposure detection signal indicating that anexposure is done.

In addition to the above flash circuit, an IC memory 14, a recordingcontrol IC 38 and a reflective photo sensor 39 are mounted on the flashcircuit board 30. As the IC memory 14, an EEPROM or flash memory ispreferable because it does not need a power source for holding data. Butanother memory such as RAM may be used if it is possible to mount aback-up power source on or beneath the flash circuit board 30. The ICmemory 14 and the recording control IC 38 may be formed as an integralcircuit. The IC memory 14 can be a cheap one whose capacity is about 1kbit to 2 kbit, but may have a larger capacity depending upon the needsand the cost.

In the factory, fundamental data including unit ID (identification) dataand production date data is written in a predetermined address of the ICmemory 14. A CPU, a program memory, a clock generator and a counter areintegrated into the recording control IC 38. The counter starts countingclock pulses from the time when the power source battery 34 is connectedto supply the recording control IC 38 through a booster circuit includedin the flash circuit, that is, on the same date as indicated by theproduction date data written in the IC memory 14. The recording controlIC 38 further receives the exposure detection signal from thesynchronizing switch 33 at each exposure, and a flash on-off signalindicating whether a flash emission is executed or not. The photo sensor39 has a light emitting member and a light receiving member, and isadapted to output a print format signal in cooperation with a findermask 49, as will be described in detail later. The print format signalis also sent to the recording control IC 38.

A connector 43 is provided on the front of the recording control IC 38.The connector 43 operates as an interface which allows external devicesto write additional data such as print order date data and photo-lab IDcode data in the IC memory 14, and read photographic data from the ICmemory 14. The photographic data read from the IC memory 14 can bewritten on the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip 6, aswill be described in detail later.

The front cover 23 is attached to the front of the body base portion 20.The front cover 23 has several openings in its front, including anopening 47 for exposing the connector 43 of the recording control IC 38to the outside, and an objective window 48 of the viewfinder, inaddition to those for exposing the taking lens and the flash emittingportion 31 to the outside. The objective window 48 has an aspect ratioof 9:16 which is equal to that of the wide screen of the Hi-vision TV.Also the frame 10 on the photo filmstrip 6 is determined to have thesame aspect ratio. Thus, this aspect ratio 9:16 is referred to as thestandard aspect ratio, and the field of view of the viewfinder definedby the objective window 48 will be referred to as a standard size.

The finder mask 49 is mounted behind the objective window 48 so as to beslidable on the front cover 23 by operating a knob 50. In a standardposition, the finder mask 49 is located out of the objective window 48,to provide the standard size view field. A signal plate 51 is formedintegrally with the finder mask 49, and has a mirror surface on the rearside. When the finder mask 49 is inserted in the objective window 48,the field of view is limited to a panoramic size having an aspect ratioof about 1:2.8. Simultaneously, the signal plate 51 is moved in front ofthe photo sensor 39. The recording control IC 38 checks the output levelof the photo sensor 39 upon each exposure detection signal from thesynchronizing switch 33. When the high-reflective signal plate 51 isopposed, the output level of the photo sensor 39 changes remarkablycompared with the case where the signal plate 51 is out of the front ofthe photo sensor 39. Therefore, the output level of the photo sensorindicates which position the finder mask 49 is located at the exposure.Thus, the field size selected at each exposure is detected by the photosensor 39, and is written as print format data in the IC memory 14through the recording control IC 38.

In response to the output signal from the synchronizing switch 33, therecording control IC 38 further determines whether the flash is effectedor not, for example, by checking whether the main capacitor 32 isdischarged or not. The recording control IC 38 writes the result ofdetermination as flash data for each frame in the IC memory 14. Inaddition, the number of clock pulses counted by the counter is recordedfor each frame in the IC memory 14.

A shutter button 53 is formed integrally with a top wall of the frontcover 23, so as to be resiliently depressed to release the shuttermechanism. The rear cover 24 covers the rear and bottom of the body baseportion 20 in a light-tight fashion. A bottom lid 54 for closing an openbottom of the cartridge chamber 26 has a boss 55 to support the lowerend of the spool 7 such that the cartridge shell 5 is rotatable aboutthe spool 7 in the cartridge chamber 26.

The unit body 18 is wrapped with a not-shown cardboard outer casinghaving openings for exposing necessary elements of the unit body 18,such as the taking lens and the shutter button 53, to the outside. Theopening 47 for the connector 43 is covered with the outer casing. Thephotographer is expected to use the film unit as wrapped with the outercasing. As set forth above, each time the shutter button 53 is depressedto make an exposure, the print format data, the flash data and the clockpulse count data are written in the IC memory 14.

After the available number of frames are photographed in the film unit,the film unit is forwarded to a retail photo-shop or agency, wherein theouter casing is removed from the unit body 18, and a bar code label 56is put on the unit body 18, as shown in FIG. 4. The bar code label 56has a bar code indicating an ID number of the photo-shop and an orderreception number, to allow the photo-lab to identify the individual filmunit and the photo-shop in charge of that film unit.

In the photo-lab, the photo film cartridge 2 containing the exposedphoto film 6 is removed from each of the film units which are collectedfrom the agencies. Before the removal, the film advancing wheel 28 isrotated to wind the photo film 6 completely into the cartridge shell 5,for insurance, and then the door member 9 is closed by use of a specifictool. For efficiency sake, it is possible to provide the film unit witha mechanism which interconnects between the door member 9 and the bottomlid 54 such that the door member 9 is automatically closed in responseto the bottom lid 9 being opened.

As shown in FIG. 4, the unit body 18 and the photo film cartridge 2removed from the unit body 18 are set in a magnetic recording device forreading the IC memory 14 of the unit body 18 and recording thephotographic data stored in the IC memory 14 on the magnetic recordinglayer on the photo filmstrip 6. For the magnetic data recording, it ispreferable to use the same binary data recording format as used formagnetic data recording in IX 240 type cameras which are adapted to theIX 240 type photo film cartridge. The binary data recording format isdisclosed, for example, in JPA 7-219021.

The magnetic data recording device has a plug 57 which is connectable tothe connector 43 of the unit body 18 through the opening 47, and isconnected to a data reader 58 built in the magnetic data recordingdevice. The magnetic data recording device is provided with a cartridgechamber 60 and a film take-up chamber 61 which can be closed by lids 60aand 61a in a light-tight fashion. A not-shown safety switch is providedto check the positions of the lids 60a and 61a, and inhibit the magneticrecording device from actuation unless the lids 60a and 61a both arecompletely closed.

A spool drive shaft 62 is disposed in the cartridge chamber 60, so as tobe engageable with the key groove 7a of the spool 7 when the photo filmcartridge 2 is placed in the cartridge chamber 60. In proximity to anexit of the cartridge chamber 60, a door drive shaft 64 is disposed toengage the key groove 9a of the door member, to open and close the doormember 9. The film take-up chamber 61 has a take-up spool 65 coated withrubber 65a for friction, and a press roller 66. The inner walls of thefilm take-up chamber 61 and the lid 61a form a smooth semi-cylindricalguide surface to guide the leading end of the photo film 6 to thetake-up spool 65. A guide plate 71 is disposed above a film passagewaybetween the cartridge chamber 60 and the film take-up chamber 61. Areflective photo sensor or perforation sensor 67 for detecting theperforations 6b, a magnetic head 68 and an encode roller 69 are mountedon the guide plate 71 to face the photo film 6 through openings of theguide plate 71.

The magnetic head 68 makes magnetic recording on the magnetic recordinglayer on the photo film 6 in response to recording signals from amagnetic head driver 72. The encode roller 69 cooperates with a niproller 73 to nip the photo filmstrip 6 and rotate along with the photofilmstrip 6 being transported from the cartridge chamber 60 to the filmtake-up chamber 61. The encode roller 69 has black-and-white axialstripes at regular intervals around its periphery, and a reflectivephoto sensor 70 detects the stripes as a reference to the filmtransporting speed.

A lever member 75 is disposed below the film passageway, to support thenip roller 73 and a press roller 74 for pressing the photo filmstrip 6onto the magnetic head 68. The lever 75 is urged by a spring 77 toward anip position shown in FIG. 4, so long as a solenoid 79 is turned on.When the solenoid 79 is turned off, the lever member 75 is locked in aretracted position wherein the nip roller 73 and the press roller 74 areset away from the photo filmstrip 6.

When recording photographic data stored in the IC memory 14 of the unitbody 18 on the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip 6, thephoto film cartridge 2 is placed in the cartridge chamber 60 of themagnetic recording device, and the plug 57 is connected to the connector43 of the unit body 18. Then, the operator actuates the magneticrecording device through a key board 80. First, the bar code on the barcode label 56 of the unit body 56 is decoded to enter the photo-shop IDnumber and the order reception number in a system controller 82 of themagnetic recording device. The system controller 82 writes the decodeddata in a memory 83, and displays the decoded data on a CRT 84.

Responsive to a data transfer command through the key board 80, thesystem controller 82 sends a start signal to a transport control circuit85. The transport control circuit 85 first actuates a rotary solenoid 86to rotate the door drive shaft 64 in a direction to open the door member9. When it is determined that the rotary solenoid 86 is properlyactuated, the system controller 82 reads the data stored in the ICmemory 14 through the data reader 58, including the fundamental datawritten in the factory, including the unit ID data and thedate-of-manufacture data, and the photographic data recorded for eachfame during the photography, including the flash data, the print formatdata and the clock pulse number data.

The system controller 82 stores the data read from the IC memory 14 inpredetermined locations in the memory 83, and derive date-of-photographdata of each frame from the production date data and the clock pulsenumber data. The date-of-photograph data is also stored for each framein the memory 83. The system controller 82 checks the data format of thedata read from the IC memory 14, and sends a transport command to thetransport control circuit 85. Then, the transport control circuit 85drives a transport motor 87 in a forward direction to rotate the spooldrive shaft 62 and the take-up spool 65 counterclockwise through aclutch mechanism 88. The clutch mechanism 88 is adapted to make therotational speed of the take-up spool 65 faster than that of the spooldrive shaft 62.

The counterclockwise rotation of the spool drive shaft 62 and thus thespool 7 advances the leader of the photo filmstrip 6 out of thecartridge shell 5 into the film passageway of the magnetic recordingdevice. In this stage, the nip roller 73 and the press roller 74 areretracted from the film passageway, so that the leader of the photofilmstrip can smoothly be moved toward the film take-up chamber 61.After the leader reaches the film take-up chamber 61, the leader isguided along the semi-cylindrical guide surface and an arm supportingthe press roller 66, into between the rubber coated periphery 65a of thetake-up spool 65 and the press roller 66. Thereafter, the photofilmstrip 6 is coiled around the take-up spool 65 with the rotation ofthe take-up spool 65.

Since the photo filmstrip 6 begins to be wound up by the rotation of thetake-up spool 65, the spool drive shaft 62 begins to rotate by themovement of the photo filmstrip 6 at a speed higher than the originalspeed. Then, the clutch 88 operates to disconnect the spool drive shaft62 from the motor 87, so that the spool drive shaft 62 is rotated onlyby the movement of the photo filmstrip 6, that is, by the rotation ofthe film take-up spool 65. When the photo filmstrip 6 is securely woundaround the film take-up spool 65, e.g., when the clutch mechanism 88 isswitched over, the solenoid 79 is driven to unlock the lever 75. Then,the lever 75 swings in the counterclockwise direction under the urgingpower of the spring 77, to place the nip roller 73 and the pressingroller 74 into the film passageway, thereby to press the photo filmstrip6 onto the encode roller 69 and the magnetic head 68, respectively.Then, the encode roller 69 starts rotating at a peripheral speedcorresponding to the film transport speed.

Responsive to a drive signal of the solenoid 79, the system controller82 reads out the data from the memory 83, and transfer it to a buffermemory 91 through a recording and reading control circuit 90. In thisstage, the exposed frames are still in the cartridge shell 5, becausethere is a non-recording area in the leader of the photo filmstrip 6,that is longer than the conventional 135-type photo filmstrip. The filmtransport speed is monitored by the photo sensor 70 as the rotationalspeed of the encode roller 69. The recording and reading control circuit90 reads the data from the buffer memory 91, and drives the magnetichead driver 72 at the timing determined based on the film transportspeed and an output from the perforation sensor 67, to record the dataon the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip 6.

Specifically, when the film transport speed reaches in a given stablerange corresponding to the rotational speed of the take-up spool 65, therecording and reading control circuit 90 sends a recording signal thatcorresponds to the photo-shop ID code and the order reception numberfrom the buffer memory 91 to the magnetic head driver 72. Then, themagnetic head 68 is driven to record the photo-shop ID code data and theorder reception number data on a leading track 96 along a leading edgebefore a leading frame 10a nearest to the leading end of the photofilmstrip 6, as shown in FIG. 3. It is to be noted that the leadingframe 10a is the frame that was exposed at last in the film unit. It ispossible to record the photo-shop ID code data and the order receptiondata on anywhere in the non-recording area 97 before the first frame10a. However, because the magnetic head can scratch the back surface ofthe photo filmstrip 6, it is preferable to record data on the edge ofthe photo filmstrip 6 outside the frames.

Thereafter while the photo filmstrip 6 is further transported, theperforation sensor 67 detects the first pair of perforations 6b nearestto the film leader. Then, the recording and reading control circuit 90reads out the flash data, the print format data and thedate-of-photograph data of the last exposed frame, and also the unit IDdata from the buffer memory 91, and sends a recording signalcorresponding to these data to the magnetic head driver 72. As a result,the magnetic head 68 records the photographic data of the last exposedframe 10a on a magnetic recording track 98a extending along the lastexposed frame 10a. Since the photo sensor 70 continues to monitor thefilm transport speed, the data can be recorded at a proper timing in aproper format. In the same way, when the second pair of perforations 6bare detected by the perforation sensor 67, the recording and readingcontrol circuit 90 reads out the photographic data of the frame 10bexposed second from the last, and the unit ID data from the buffermemory 91. The photographic data is recorded on a magnetic recordingtrack 98b extending along the frame 10b.

In this way, the photographic data of each frame is read to be recordedon the magnetic recording track allocated to each frame in the reversedorder to the photography in the film unit. As for the frame nearest tothe trailing end of the photo filmstrip 6 that is secured to the spool7, it is convenient for photo-printing to record code data to indicatethat this is the trailing frame of one filmstrip, in addition to thephotographic data of the first exposed frame. This code data may berecorded on a trailing portion behind the first exposed or trailingframe.

After the photographic data is recorded in this way to the trailing endof the photo filmstrip 6, the system controller 82 outputs a rewindingcommand to the transport control circuit 85. Then the transport motor 87starts being rotated in a reverse direction to rotate the spool driveshaft 62 in a direction to rewind the photo filmstrip 6 in the cartridgeshell 5. In this stage, the clutch mechanism 88 disconnects the take-upspool 65 from the transport motor 87, so that the take-up spool 65rotates along with the rewinding movement of the photo filmstrip 6.During rewinding, the system controller 82 operates the recording andreading control circuit 90 in a reproduction mode. The magnetic head 68reads the data recorded on the magnetic recording tracks, and the dataread is sent through the head driver 72 to the recording and readingcontrol circuit 90. The recording and reading control circuit 90collates the reproduced data with the data stored in the buffer memory91 with reference to the output from the perforation sensor 67. Ofcourse, the direction of data reading is reverse to the data recordingdirection, so that the data in the buffer memory 91 is read in thereversed order for collation.

If all the data is identical, the transport motor 87 stops in a givendelay time after the take-up spool 65 stops rotating, when the filmleader has been rewound into the cartridge shell 5. Thereafter, therotary solenoid 86 rotates the door drive shaft 64 in a direction toclose the door member 9, and the solenoid 79 is turned off to retractthe lever 75 away from the film passageway. If there is any differencebetween the recorded data and the stored data, correct data isoverwritten on the corresponding magnetic recording track. If necessary,all the magnetic recording tracks are rewritten.

The photo film cartridge 2 having the data magnetically recorded on thephoto filmstrip 6 is subjected to the development and printing. Eventhough the photo filmstrip 6 is separated from the cartridge shell 5during the development, since the latent image of the ID number bar codeformed on the photo filmstrip 6 is developed concurrently with thephotographic images, it is possible to correlate the photo filmstrip 6to the cartridge shell 5 with reference to the ID number indicated bythe bar code label 12.

After the data is completely transferred from the IC memory 14 to themagnetic recording tracks on the photo filmstrip 6, the unit body 18 issubjected to a recycling process. First, all the data is erased from theIC memory 14, and the flash circuit board 30 with the IC memory 14 isinspected. If all the elements on the flash circuit board 30 operatenormally, the flash circuit board 30 is reused. If any element on theflash circuit board 30 except the IC memory 14 is defective, only the ICmemory 14 is reused on a new flash circuit board 30.

The developed frames on the photo filmstrip 6 are seriatim subjected toprinting in the order from the leading end. The printer reads thephotographic data from the magnetic recording track 98a, 98b of eachframe, to utilize for controlling exposure for each frame. For example,if the printer recognizes the unit ID data, a wider exposure correctionrange is selected for that photo filmstrip 6. If it is indicated by theflash data that the frame is formed by flash photography, the printermay correct the exposure so that a central area of the photo-print has aproper exposure condition, assuming that the main subject is mostlylocated in the central area. In this way, the printer can make adequateprints while taking photographic properties of the film unit intoconsideration.

If the print format data designates the panoramic size, the printmagnification and the paper mask size are automatically adapted to thepanoramic size. Since it is unnecessary to mount any frame mask devicein the film unit for designating a print format to each frame, thesystem of the present embodiment contributes to the cost saving of thefilm unit. It is also possible to marge-print the date of photography atan appropriate position and in either direction of the photo-print, inan appropriate color and size. The photo-lab data read from the leadingmagnetic track 96 may be printed on the back of the photo-print, so asto utilize it for managing delivery of the photo-prints from thephoto-lab to the photo-shop. Moreover, it is possible to record theprint format and the date of photography in association with each imageon an index print that contains printed images of all frames recorded onthe individual photo filmstrip. It is preferable to magnetically recordexposure correction data or other kinds of print data on the oppositeside of each frame from the magnetic recording track 98a or 98b havingthe photographic data, so that the print data may be utilized forextra-printing.

After the photographic processing in the photo-lab is accomplished, thedeveloped photo filmstrip 6 is rewound back into the original cartridgeshell 5, and is returned to the photographer through the photo-shop,together with the photo-prints made from the photo filmstrip 6. FIG. 5shows the sequence of the photographic system for the film unit asdescribed so far. Alternatively, it is possible to make the magneticrecording of the data written in the IC memory 14 after the photofilmstrip 6 is developed. In that case, it is unnecessary to shield theinterior of the magnetic recording device shown in FIG. 4 from ambientlight. Thus, the magnetic recording device may have a simpleconstruction. As the data transfer operation in the magnetic recordingdevice shown in FIG. 4 requires no skill, it is possible to install themagnetic recording device in the photo-shop to make the data transferbefore forwarding the exposed photo film cartridge 2 to the photo-lab.

The position of the IC memory 14 is not to be limited to the frontsurface of the flash circuit board 30, but the IC memory 14 may bemounted on another position, e.g., the front or the side of the frontcover 23. The IC memory 14 may be integrated in the recording control IC38. The IC memory 14 and the recording control IC 38 may be cemented tothe flash circuit board 30 or may be attached to the flash circuit board30 in a removable fashion. In that case, it is possible to make the datatransfer from the IC memory to the magnetic recording layer on the photofilmstrip after the IC memory is removed from the unit body. Therefore,the unit body can be directly forwarded to the recycling process.

The interface connector 43 may be replaced by a printed contact. Theconnector 43 may be exposed to the outside of the cardboard outercasing, so that the data reading and recording can be carried outwithout the need for removal of the outer casing. On the contrary, it ispossible to cover the connector 43 with the front cover 23, so that theuser may not access the IC memory 14. In that case, the data transferfrom the IC memory 14 should be carried out after the flash circuitboard 30 or at least the front cover 23 is detached from the body baseportion 20.

It is possible to record data on the magnetic recording layer while thephoto filmstrip 6 coiled around the take-up spool 65 of the magneticrecording device is rewound back into the cartridge shell 5. In thatcase, it is desirable to provide a magnetic reading head in addition toa magnetic writing head, so as to check if the data is correctlyrecorded.

FIG. 6 shows a film unit according to a second embodiment of theinvention, which contains an IX 240 type photo film cartridge 2'. Asshown in FIG. 7, the fundamental components of the photo film cartridge2' are equivalent to those shown in FIG. 2, as designated by the samereference numbers. A photo film strip 6 can be advanced out of acartridge shell 5 through a film port 8 in response to an unwindingrotation of a spool 7. A door member 9 is disposed behind the film port8. The door member 9 is rotated to open the film port 8 when to pass thephoto filmstrip 6 through the film port 8, or close the film port 8 in alight-tight fashion when to shield the interior of the cartridge shell 5from ambient light. The spool 7 and the door member 9 have key grooves7a and 9a which are exposed to the outside of the cartridge shell 5 atend faces thereof, so as to permit rotating the spool 7 and the doormember 9 from outside.

The photo filmstrip 6 has a transparent magnetic recording layer on itsback surface, which permits recording photographic data or photo-labdata necessary for printing. In the factory, an ID number isphotographically recorded on one side edge of each photo filmstrip 6 inthe form of a latent image of bar code. In addition to the latent image,it is possible to record the ID number and film type data on themagnetic recording layer in the factory. A bar code label 12 is put onthe cartridge shell 5 to indicate the same ID number as the photofilmstrip 6 has, to correlate the cartridge shell 5 with the photofilmstrip 6. The photo film cartridge 2' also has a bar code disc 13having bar code printed thereon to indicate the film type and the numberof available exposures. The bar code disc 13 rotates with the spool 7.

A memory circuit board 16 is incorporated into the cartridge shell 5 ofthe photo film cartridge 2'. The memory circuit board 16 has an ICmemory 15 and a contact pattern 17 which is disposed on the same endface of the cartridge shell 5 as the bar code disc 13. The contactpattern 17 consisting of a plurality of contact segments arrangedradially around one end of the spool 7. The IC memory 15 is electricallyconnected to the contact pattern 17 through the memory circuit board 16by the well-known wire bonding, and is united to the memory circuitboard 16 by use of epoxy resin. As the IC memory 15, an EEPROM ispreferable because it does not need a power source for holding data. Butanother memory such as RAM may be used if it is possible to mount aback-up power source on or beneath a flash circuit board 30. The ICmemory 15 can be a cheap one whose capacity is about 1 kbit to 2 kbit,but may have a larger capacity depending upon the needs and the cost.

Because the photo film cartridge 2° is not limited to use in the filmunit but may be loaded in a camera, fundamental data including unit ID(identification) data and production date data is written in apredetermined address of the IC memory 15 when the photo film cartridge2' is determined to be used in the film unit. The unit ID data is toindicate the photo-lab or the printer that the photo film cartridge 2'is exposed in the film unit. The reproduction date data is utilized forprinting the date of photography of each frame in the photo-lab.

As shown in FIG. 6, a unit body of the film unit is constituted of abody base portion 20, an exposure unit 21, a flash unit 22, a frontcover 23, and a rear cover 24. The body base portion 20 has an exposurechamber 25, a cartridge chamber 26 and a film roll chamber 27 as anintegral molded part. In a dark room of the factory, the photo filmstrip6 is withdrawn from the cartridge shell 5, and is loaded in the filmroll chamber 27 in form of a roll 6a, while the cartridge shell 5 isloaded in the cartridge chamber 26.

The exposure unit 21 is an assembly having a taking lens, a shuttermechanism, a film advancing mechanism, a frame counter mechanism and aviewfinder optical system 29. A film advancing wheel 28 is mounted atopof the cartridge chamber 26 such that an axle of the film advancingwheel 28 engages the key groove 7a of the spool 7 of the cartridge shell5. The film advancing wheel 28 is rotatable in a counterclockwisedirection in the drawing, to rotate the spool 7 to wind the photofilmstrip 6 into the cartridge shell 5. The photo filmstrip 6 isprovided with a pair of perforations 6b per frame, each pair is spacedfrom another pair at a regular interval corresponding to one frame. Anot-shown sprocket member of the film advancing mechanism is engaged inthe pair of perforations 6b each time the photo filmstrip 6 is advancedby one frame, thereby locking the film advancing wheel 28. While thephoto filmstrip 6 is advanced by one frame, the shutter mechanism ischarged in cooperation with the film advancing mechanism. When theshutter mechanism is released to expose a frame 10 on the photofilmstrip 6, the film advancing wheel 28 is unlocked. Thus, the photofilmstrip 6 is wound into the cartridge shell 5 one frame after eachexposure. The frames 10 are formed in the same size throughout thefilmstrip 6.

The flash unit 22 is constituted of the flash circuit board 30 and aflash emitting portion 31 attached to the flash circuit board 30. On thecircuit board are mounted a main capacitor 32 for charging electricpower for a flash, a synchronizing switch 33, and a AA type dry cellbattery 34. When a charge switch 35 is pushed by an operation member 36of the front cover 23 onto a switch pattern 37 formed on the flashcircuit board 30, the main capacitor 32 starts being charged. Thesynchronizing switch 33 is turned on at the moment when the shuttermechanism is released. An output signal generated when the synchronizingswitch 33 is turned on is used as a timing signal for flashing, and alsoas an exposure detection signal indicating that an exposure is done.

In addition to the above flash circuit, a recording control IC 38, areflective photo sensor 39 and a flexible connection plate 100 aremounted to the flash circuit board 30. A CPU, a program memory, a clockgenerator and a counter are integrated into the recording control IC 38.The counter starts counting clock pulses from the time when the powersource battery 34 is connected to supply the recording control IC 38through a booster circuit included in the flash circuit, that is, on thesame date as indicated by the production date data written in the ICmemory 15. The recording control IC 38 further receives the exposuredetection signal from the synchronizing switch 33 at each exposure, anda flash on-off signal indicating whether a flash emission is executed ornot. The photo sensor 39 has a light emitting member and a lightreceiving member, and is adapted to output a print format signal incooperation with a finder mask 49, as will be described in detail later.The print format signal is also sent to the recording control IC 38.

The flexible connecting plate 100 has a plug 101 at an end thereof. Theplug 101 has an array of connector pins 101a, and is connected to aconnector 102 which is mounted on the top of the cartridge chamber 26,as is shown in FIG. 8. The top wall of the cartridge chamber 26 isformed with a sleeve for bearing an axle 28a of the film advancing wheel28, and a plurality of conductive metal contact segments 105 aredisposed radially around the sleeve. Each contact segment 105 isresilient and is connected at its upper end to a pin of the connector102 through soldering.

Connector pins 106 are disposed radially around the sleeve such thatlower ends of the contact segments 105 individually press head portionsof the connector pins 106, to urge the connector pins 106 to protrudeinto the cartridge chamber 26. When the cartridge shell 5 is positionedin the cartridge chamber 26, the connector pins 106 come into contactwith the contact segments of the contact pattern 17 provided on the endface of the cartridge shell 5, that is oriented upward in the cartridgechamber 26. In this way, the IC memory 15 of the photo film cartridge 2'is connected to the recording control IC 38 of the unit body.

A bottom lid 54 for closing an open bottom of the cartridge chamber 26has a boss 55 to support the lower end of the spool 7 such that thecartridge shell 5 is rotatable about the spool 7 in the cartridgechamber 26. Holding the cartridge shell 5 to be rotatable around thespool in the cartridge chamber 26 permits maintaining the contactpattern 17 in a proper position relative to the connector pins 106, aswell as facilitates positioning the photo film cartridge 2' such thatthe key groove 9a of the door member 9 is engaged with a key memberprovided in the cartridge chamber 26, while the key groove 7a of thespool 7 is engaged with the axle 28a of the film advancing wheel 28.

The front cover 23 is attached to the front of the body base portion 20.The front cover 23 has several openings in its front, including anobjective window 48 of the viewfinder, and those for exposing the takinglens and the flash emitting portion 31 to the outside. The objectivewindow 48 has an aspect ratio of 9:16 which is equal to that of the widescreen of the Hi-vision TV. Also the frame 10 on the photo filmstrip 6is determined to have the same aspect ratio. Thus, this aspect ratio9:16 is referred to as the standard aspect ratio, and the field of viewof the viewfinder defined by the objective window 48 will be referred toas a standard size.

The finder mask 49 is mounted behind the objective window 48 so as to beslidable on the front cover 23 by operating a knob 50. In a standardposition, the finder mask 49 is located out of the objective window 48,to provide the standard size view field. A signal plate 51 is formedintegrally with the finder mask 49, and has a mirror surface on the rearside. When the finder mask 49 is inserted in the objective window 48,the field of view is limited to a panoramic size having an aspect ratioof about 1:2.8. Simultaneously, the signal plate 51 is moved in front ofthe photo sensor 39. The recording control IC 38 checks the output levelof the photo sensor 39 upon each exposure detection signal from thesynchronizing switch 33. When the high-reflective signal plate 51 isopposed, the output level of the photo sensor 39 changes remarkablycompared with the case where the signal plate 51 is out of the front ofthe photo sensor 39. Therefore, the output level of the photo sensorindicates which position the finder mask 49 is located at the exposure.Thus, the field size selected at each exposure is detected by the photosensor 39, and is written as print format data in the IC memory 15through the recording control IC 38, the plug 101 and the connector 102.

A shutter button 53 is formed integrally with a top wall of the frontcover 23, so as to be resiliently depressed to release the shuttermechanism. The rear cover 24 covers the rear and bottom of the body baseportion 20 in a light-tight fashion. In this way, each time the shutterbutton 53 is depressed to make an exposure, the print format data, theflash data and the clock pulse count data are written in the IC memory15.

In response to the output signal from the synchronizing switch 33, therecording control IC 38 further determines whether the flash is effectedor not, for example, by checking whether the main capacitor 32 isdischarged or not. The recording control IC 38 writes the result ofdetermination as flash data for each frame in the IC memory 15. Inaddition, the number of clock pulses counted by the counter is recordedfor each frame in the IC memory 15.

After the available number of frames are photographed in the film unit,the film unit is forwarded to a retail photo-shop or agency, wherein anot-shown bar code label is put on the unit body. The bar code label hasa bar code indicating an ID number of the photo-shop and an orderreception number, which are referred to by the photo-lab during thephotographic processing, and are utilized for delivery of the finishedphoto-prints and the developed photo filmstrip 6 to the user through thephoto-shop.

In the photo-lab, the photo film cartridge 2' containing the exposedphoto film 6 is removed from each of the film units which are collectedfrom the agencies. Before the removal, the film advancing wheel 28 isrotated to wind the photo film 6 completely into the cartridge shell 5,for insurance, and then the door member 9 is closed by use of a specifictool. For efficiency sake, it is possible to provide the film unit witha mechanism which interconnects between the door member 9 and the bottomlid 54 such that the door member 9 is automatically closed in responseto the bottom lid 9 being opened.

As shown in FIG. 9, the photo film cartridge 2' removed from the unitbody are set in a magnetic recording device for reading the IC memory 15of the cartridge shell 5 and recording the photographic data stored inthe IC memory 15 on the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip6. For the magnetic data recording, it is preferable to use the samebinary data recording format as used for magnetic data recording in IX240 type cameras which are adapted to the IX 240 type photo filmcartridge. The binary data recording format is disclosed, for example,in JPA 7-219021.

The magnetic recording device is provided with a cartridge chamber 60and a film take-up chamber 61 which can be closed by lids 60a and 61a ina light-tight fashion. A not-shown safety switch is provided to checkthe positions of the lids 60a and 61a, and inhibit the magneticrecording device from actuation unless the lids 60a and 61a both arecompletely closed.

A spool drive shaft 62 is disposed in the cartridge chamber 60, so as tobe engageable with the key groove 7a of the spool 7 when the photo filmcartridge 2' is placed in the cartridge chamber 60. A data reader 63 isdisposed around the spool drive shaft 62, and connector pins 63a of thedata reader 63 are urged by a spring force to protrude axially into thecartridge chamber 60, like the above connector pins 106 disposed in thetop wall of the cartridge chamber 26 of the film unit. The connectorpins 63a are connected to the contact pattern 17 of the memory circuitboard 16 of the cartridge shell 5 when the photo film cartridge 2' ispositioned in the cartridge chamber 60 of the magnetic recording device.In proximity to an exit of the cartridge chamber 60, a door drive shaft64 is disposed to engage the key groove 9a of the door member, to openand close the door member 9.

The film take-up chamber 61 has a take-up spool 65 coated with rubber65a for friction, and a press roller 66. The inner walls of the filmtake-up chamber 61 and the lid 61a form a smooth semi-cylindrical guidesurface to guide the leading end of the photo film 6 to the take-upspool 65. A guide plate 71 is disposed above a film passageway betweenthe cartridge chamber 60 and the film take-up chamber 61. A reflectivephoto sensor or perforation sensor 67 for detecting the perforations 6b,a magnetic head 68 and an encode roller 69 are mounted on the guideplate 71 to face the photo film 6 through openings of the guide plate71.

The magnetic head 68 makes magnetic recording on the magnetic recordinglayer on the photo film 6 in response to recording signals from amagnetic head driver 72. The encode roller 69 cooperates with a niproller 73 to nip the photo filmstrip 6 and rotate along with the photofilmstrip 6 being transported from the cartridge chamber 60 to the filmtake-up chamber 61. The encode roller 69 has black-and-white axialstripes at regular intervals around its periphery, and a reflectivephoto sensor 70 detects the stripes as a reference to the filmtransporting speed.

A lever member 75 is disposed below the film passageway, to support thenip roller 73 and a press roller 74 for pressing the photo filmstrip 6onto the magnetic head 68. The lever 75 is urged by a spring 77 toward anip position shown in FIG. 9, so long as a solenoid 79 is turned on.When the solenoid 79 is turned off, the lever member 75 is locked in aretracted position wherein the nip roller 73 and the press roller 74 areset away from the photo filmstrip 6.

When recording photographic data stored in the IC memory 15 of the unitbody 18 on the magnetic recording layer of the photo filmstrip 6, thephoto film cartridge 2' is placed in the cartridge chamber 60 of themagnetic recording device, and the plug 57 is connected to the connector43 of the unit body 18. Then, the operator actuates the magneticrecording device through a key board 80. First, the bar code on the barcode label 56 of the unit body 56 is decoded to enter the photo-shop IDnumber and the order reception number in a system controller 82 of themagnetic recording device. The system controller 82 writes the decodeddata in a memory 83, and displays the decoded data on a CRT 84.

Responsive to a data transfer command through the key board 80, thesystem controller 82 sends a start signal to a transport control circuit85. The transport control circuit 85 first actuates a rotary solenoid 86to rotate the door drive shaft 64 in a direction to open the door member9. When it is determined that the rotary solenoid 86 is properlyactuated, the system controller 82 reads the data stored in the ICmemory 15 through the data reader 63, including the fundamental datawritten in the factory, including the unit ID data and the productiondate data, and the photographic data recorded for each fame during thephotography, including the flash data, the print format data and theclock pulse number data.

The system controller 82 stores the data read from the IC memory 15 inpredetermined locations in the memory 83, and derive date-of-photographdata of each frame from the production date data and the clock pulsenumber data. The date-of-photograph data is also stored for each framein the memory 83. The system controller 82 checks the data format of thedata read from the IC memory 15, and sends a transport command to thetransport control circuit 85. Then, the transport control circuit 85drives a transport motor 87 in a forward direction to rotate the spooldrive shaft 62 and the take-up spool 65 counterclockwise through aclutch mechanism 88. Other operation steps of the magnetic recordingdevice shown in FIG. 9 are equal to those described with regard to themagnetic recording device of FIG. 4, so that the detailed description isomitted to avoid redundancy.

The photographic data of each frame is read to be recorded on themagnetic recording track allocated to each frame in the reversed orderto the photography in the film unit. As for the frame nearest to thetrailing end of the photo filmstrip 6 that is secured to the spool 7, itis convenient for photo-printing to record code data to indicate thatthis is the trailing frame of one filmstrip, in addition to thephotographic data of the first exposed frame. This code data may berecorded on a trailing portion behind the first exposed or trailingframe.

After the photographic data is recorded in this way to the trailing endof the photo filmstrip 6, the system controller 82 outputs a rewindingcommand to the transport control circuit 85. Then the transport motor 87starts being rotated in a reverse direction to rotate the spool driveshaft 62 in a direction to rewind the photo filmstrip 6 in the cartridgeshell 5. In this stage, the clutch mechanism 88 disconnects the take-upspool 65 from the transport motor 87, so that the take-up spool 65rotates along with the rewinding movement of the photo filmstrip 6.During rewinding, the system controller 82 operates the recording andreading control circuit 90 in a reproduction mode. The magnetic head 68reads the data recorded on the magnetic recording tracks, and the dataread is sent through the head driver 72 to the recording and readingcontrol circuit 90. The recording and reading control circuit 90collates the reproduced data with the data stored in the buffer memory91 with reference to the output from the perforation sensor 67. Ofcourse, the direction of data reading is reverse to the data recordingdirection, so that the data in the buffer memory 91 is read in thereversed order for collation.

If all the data is identical, the transport motor 87 stops in a givendelay time after the take-up spool 65 stops rotating, when the filmleader has been rewound into the cartridge shell 5. Thereafter, therotary solenoid 86 rotates the door drive shaft 64 in a direction toclose the door member 9, and the solenoid 79 is turned off to retractthe lever 75 away from the film passageway. If there is any differencebetween the recorded data and the stored data, correct data isoverwritten on the corresponding magnetic recording track. If necessary,all the magnetic recording tracks are rewritten.

The photo film cartridge 2' having the data magnetically recorded on thephoto filmstrip 6 is subjected to the development and printing. Eventhough the photo filmstrip 6 is separated from the cartridge shell 5during the development, since the latent image of the ID number bar codeformed on the photo filmstrip 6 is developed concurrently with thephotographic images, it is possible to correlate the photo filmstrip 6to the cartridge shell 5 with reference to the ID number indicated bythe bar code label 12.

The developed frames on the photo filmstrip 6 are seriatim subjected toprinting in the order from the leading end, separately from thecartridge shell 5 with the IC memory 15, since all the necessary data isrecorded on the magnetic recording layer. The printer reads thephotographic data from the magnetic recording track 98a, 98b of eachframe, to utilize for controlling exposure for each frame. For example,if the printer recognizes the unit ID data, a wider range of exposurecorrection is selected for that photo filmstrip 6. If it is indicated bythe flash data that the frame is formed by flash photography, theprinter may correct the exposure so that a central area of thephoto-print has a proper exposure condition, assuming that the mainsubject is mostly located in the central area. In this way, the printercan make adequate prints while taking photographic properties of thefilm unit into consideration.

If the print format data designates the panoramic size, the printmagnification and the paper mask size are automatically adapted to thepanoramic size. Since it is unnecessary to mount any frame mask devicein the film unit for designating a print format to each frame, thesystem of the present embodiment contributes to the cost saving of thefilm unit. It is also possible to marge-print the date of photography atan appropriate position and in either direction of the photo-print, inan appropriate color and size. The photo-lab data read from the leadingmagnetic track 96 may be printed on the back of the photo-print, so asto utilize it for managing delivery of the photo-prints from thephoto-lab to the photo-shop. Moreover, it is possible to record theprint format and the date of photography in association with each imageon an index print that contains printed images of all frames recorded onthe individual photo filmstrip. It is preferable to magnetically recordexposure correction data or other kinds of print data on the oppositeside of each frame from the magnetic recording track 98a or 98b havingthe photographic data, so that the print data may be utilized forextra-printing.

After the photographic processing in the photo-lab is accomplished, thedeveloped photo filmstrip 6 is rewound back into the original cartridgeshell 5, and is returned to the photographer through the photo-shop,together with the photo-prints made from the photo filmstrip 6. FIG. 10shows the sequence of the photographic system for the film unit of FIG.6. Also in this embodiment, it is possible to make the magneticrecording of the data written in the IC memory 15 after the photofilmstrip 6 is developed. Since the IC memory 15 of the originalcartridge shell 5 continues to store the same data as before, the datastored in the IC memory 15 can be utilized for extra-printing.

FIG. 11 shows a film unit according to a second embodiment of theinvention, which contains an IX 240 type photo film cartridge 2' with amemory circuit board 16 having an IC memory 15 and a contact pattern 17.The construction of the photo film cartridge 2' is equal to that shownin FIG. 7, as designated by the same reference numbers, so that thedetailed description of the photo film cartridge 2' is omitted forbrevity.

As shown in FIG. 11, a unit body of the film unit fundamentally has thesame construction as shown in FIG. 6, so that the following descriptionrelates only to those elements essential to this embodiment.

The unit body is mainly constituted of a body base portion 20, anexposure unit 21, a flash unit 22, a front cover 23 and a rear cover 24.The flash unit 22 is constituted of a flash circuit board 30 and a flashemitting portion 31 attached to the flash circuit board 30. On the flashcircuit board 30 are mounted a main capacitor 32 for charging electricpower for a flash, a synchronizing switch 33, and a AA type dry cellbattery as a power source 34. When a charge switch 35 is pushed by anoperation member 36 of the front cover 23 onto a switch pattern 37formed on the flash circuit board 30, the main capacitor 32 starts beingcharged. The synchronizing switch 33 is turned on at the moment when theshutter mechanism is released. An output signal generated when thesynchronizing switch 33 is turned on is used as a timing signal forflashing, and also as an exposure detection signal indicating that anexposure is done.

In addition to the above flash circuit, a recording control IC 38 and areflective photo sensor 39 are mounted to the flash circuit board 30. ACPU, a program memory, a clock generator and a counter are integratedinto the recording control IC 38. The counter starts counting clockpulses from the time when the power source battery 34 is connected tosupply the recording control IC 38 through a booster circuit included inthe flash circuit, that is, on the same date as indicated by theproduction date data written in the IC memory 15. The recording controlIC 38 further receives the exposure detection signal from thesynchronizing switch 33 at each exposure, and a flash on-off signalindicating whether a flash emission is executed or not. The photo sensor39 has a light emitting member and a light receiving member, and isadapted to output a print format signal in cooperation with a findermask 49, as will be described in detail later. The print format signalis also sent to the recording control IC 38.

The flash circuit board 30 further has an extension 151 extending abovean exposure chamber 25 toward a cartridge chamber 26. The extension 151has a rectangular opening 151a in an area disposed between a viewfinderoptical system 29 and an objective window 48 of the front cover 23. Theobjective window has the standard aspect ratio of 9:16. A plug 152 isprovided at an end of the extension 151 on the rear side thereof. Theplug 152 has an array of connector pins 152a, and is connected to aconnector 154 which is mounted on a front wall of the cartridge chamber26, as is shown in detail in FIG. 12.

As shown in FIG. 12, the connector 154 is mounted to a connector circuitboard 155 which is disposed atop the cartridge chamber 26. Because theconnector 154 is oriented forward of the body base portion 20, theconnection between the plug 152 and the connector 154 is made only byattaching the circuit bard 30 to the front of the body base portion 20.The connector circuit board 155 further has a circular opening 155aformed in a center thereof to avoid hindering a film advancing wheel 28.A plurality of metal contact pins 156 are mounted around a rim of thecircular opening 155a to protrude radially inwardly from the rim. Acircuit pattern is printed on the connector circuit board 155 to connectthe metal contact pins 156 to the connector 154. A pair of holes 155band 155c of the connector circuit board 155 are fit on bosses 157a and157b formed on a top wall of the cartridge chamber 26, to position theconnector circuit board 155. A pair of hooks 158a and 158b fasten theconnector circuit board 155 to the cartridge chamber 26 in a removablefashion.

A sleeve 160 is formed through the top wall of the cartridge chamber 26to bear the film advancing wheel 28. Slits 161 of the same number as themetal contact pins 156 are formed around the sleeve 160, to let themetal contact pins 156 protrude into the cartridge chamber 26, as isshown in FIG. 13. Thus, the metal contact pins 156 come into contactwith the contact pattern 17 of the memory circuit board 16 of thecartridge shell 5. The metal contact pins 156 are arched to have aresiliency to ensure tight contact with the contact pattern 17. In thisway, the recording control IC 38 on the flash circuit board 30 isconnected to the IC memory 15 on the memory circuit board 16 through theplug 152, the connector 154 and the contact pins 156.

A cap 162 is fit on the sleeve 160 to cover the slits 161 in alight-tight fashion. The cap 162 has a hub 162a for accepting an axle28a of the film advancing wheel 28, and a circular ridge 163 on itsbottom surface. The circular ridge 163 is fitted into the circularopening 155a of the connector circuit board 155. The circular ridge 163depresses the metal contact pins 156 onto the contact pattern 17 toensure the contact between the metal contact pins 156 and the contactpattern 17.

The rear cover 24 has a bottom lid 54 for closing an open bottom of thecartridge chamber 26. The bottom lid 54 has a boss 55 to support thelower end of the spool 7 such that the cartridge shell 5 is rotatableabout the spool 7 in the cartridge chamber 26. Holding the cartridgeshell 5 to be rotatable around the spool 7 in the cartridge chamber 26permits maintaining the contact pattern 17 in a proper position relativeto the connector pins 156.

A signal plate 51 is formed integrally with a finder mask 49, and has amirror surface on the rear side. When the finder mask 49 is inserted inthe objective window 48, the field of view is limited to the panoramicsize having an aspect ratio of about 1:2.8. Simultaneously, the signalplate 51 is moved in front of the photo sensor 39. The recording controlIC 38 checks the output level of the photo sensor 39 upon each exposuredetection signal from the synchronizing switch 33. When thehigh-reflective signal plate 51 is opposed, the output level of thephoto sensor 39 changes remarkably compared with the case where thesignal plate 51 is out of the front of the photo sensor 39. Therefore,the output level of the photo sensor indicates which position the findermask 49 is located at the exposure. Thus, the field size selected ateach exposure is detected by the photo sensor 39, and is written asprint format data in the IC memory 15 through the recording control IC38, the plug 152 and the connector 154. In addition to the print formatdata, the flash data and the clock pulse count data are written in theIC memory 15 each time a shutter button 53 is depressed to make anexposure.

When assembling the film unit, the body base portion 20 is conveyed at aconstant speed on a pallet conveyer, and the exposure unit 21 isforce-fitted to the front of the exposure chamber 25 in a removablefashion through hooks. Next, a connector circuit board 155 is put onatop a cartridge chamber 26, and then the cap 162 and the film advancingwheel 28 are fitted to the sleeve 160. The door drive shaft for the doormember 9 may be mounted to the cartridge chamber before, after orconcurrently with the mounting step of the connector circuit board 155and the cap 162. Thereafter, the flash unit 22 is force-fitted to thefront of a film roll chamber 27 in a removable fashion through hooksand, simultaneously, the plug 152 on the extension 151 of the flashcircuit board 30 is inserted in the connector 154.

Then, the front cover 23, which is attached with the mask plate 49 to beslidable thereon, is secured to the front of the body base portion 20 ina removable fashion. Thereafter, the cartridge shell 5 and the photofilmstrip 6 withdrawn from the cartridge shell 5 and coiled into a roll6a are loaded in the cartridge chamber 26 and the film roll chamber 27,respectively, in a dark room. The axle 28a of the film advancing wheel28 is engaged with a key groove 7a of a spool 7 of the cartridge shell5, while the contact pattern 17 of the cartridge shell 5 is brought intocontact with the metal contact pins 156, to complete the electricconnection between the IC memory 15 and the recording control IC 38.

The rear cover 24 is securely attached to the rear of the body baseportion 20 through partial welding. Thereafter when the power sourcebattery 34 is inserted from a bottom portion of the unit body, therecording control IC 38 starts counting the clock pulses, and thefundamental data including unit ID data and date-of-manufacture data iswritten in the IC memory 15. The assembled unit body is wrapped with anot-shown cardboard outer casing, and is shipped for sale afterexamination.

During the photography, the synchronizing switch 33 is turned on eachtime the shutter button 53 is depressed, regardless of whether the flashlight is emitted or not. In response to the output signal from thesynchronizing switch 33, the recording control IC 38 checks the outputlevel of the photo sensor 39, and also determines whether the flash iseffected or not, for example, by checking whether the main capacitor 32is discharged or not. The recording control IC 38 writes the result ofdetermination as flash data for each frame in the IC memory 15. Inaddition, the number of clock pulses counted by the counter is recordedfor each frame in the IC memory 15.

After the available number of frames are photographed in the film unit,the film unit is forwarded to a photo-lab through a retail photo-shop oragency, for development and printing. In the photo-shop or in thephoto-lab, the bottom lid 54 of the unit body is opened to remove thephoto film cartridge 2' containing the exposed photo filmstrip 6.Thephoto film cartridge 2' having the data written in the IC memory 15 issubjected to the development and printing. At that time, the abovedescribed data transfer from the IC memory 15 to the magnetic recordinglayer of the photo filmstrip 6 may preferably be executed. After thephotographic processing in the photo-lab is accomplished, the developedphoto filmstrip 6 is rewound back into the original cartridge shell 5,and is returned to the user or photographer through the photo-shop,together with the photo-prints made from the photo filmstrip 6. Sincethe IC memory 15 of the original cartridge shell 5 continues to storethe same data as before, the data stored in the IC memory 15 can beutilized for extra-printing.

The unit body separated from the photo film cartridge 2' is gathered tothe manufacturer for recycling. In the recycling process, the unit bodyis dissembled, and the flash unit 22, the exposure unit 21 and theconnector circuit board 155 are inspected for reuse. At that time, theflash unit 22 can be removed from the body base portion 20 with ease bydisengaging hooks of the body base portion 20 from the flash circuitboard 30 and pulling the plug 152 off the connector 154. Also, theconnector circuit board 155 can be easily removed by disengaging thehooks 158a and 158b after the film advancing wheel 28 and the cap 162are pulled off the cartridge chamber 26.

Although the flash circuit board 30 is connected to the connectorcircuit board 155 through the plug 152 and the connector 154 in theabove embodiment, it is possible to replace the plug 152 and theconnector 154 by metal contact chips made of metal foil, e.g. copperfoil. That is, the metal contact chips connected to the recordingcontrol IC 38 are formed on the rear side of the extension 151 of theflash circuit board 30, whereas the metal contact chips are formed onthe connector circuit board 155 such that these contact chips come intotight contact with the contact chips on the flash circuit board 30. Thisembodiment can be cheaper than the above plug-and-connector connection.To maintain the tight contact between the contact chips, it ispreferable to secure the extension 151 to a side portion of thecartridge chamber through a hook or the like.

Although a data output portion and a data input portion for the datacommunication between the recording control IC 38 and the IC memory 15are constructed by the plug 152 or 101 and the connector 154 or 102, thedata communication should not be limited to the electric directconnection, but the data output and input portions can be constituted ofoptical devices such as an LED and a photo sensor. In that case, it isnecessary to supply power to the photo sensor, but the step ofconnecting the plug and the connector is unnecessary.

It is possible to incorporate a connector circuit board into thecartridge chamber and expose a connector to the outside of the chamberthrough a side opening of the chamber. In that case, it is unnecessaryto form the slits 161 for inserting the metal contact pins 156 into thecartridge chamber.

It is possible to provide the contact pattern 17 on the end face of thecartridge shell 5 that is oriented downward in the cartridge chamber,and extend a lower portion of the flash circuit board toward thecartridge chamber, to dispose a data output portion in proximity to alower portion of the cartridge chamber. In that case, a metal contactplate for holding the power source battery 34 may be secured to thelower extended portion of the flash circuit board. Moreover, aninterconnection mechanism for closing the door member 9 in cooperationwith the bottom lid 54 being opened, can be mounted on the connectorcircuit board if it is disposed in the lower portion of the cartridgechamber. Then, the interconnection mechanism may be reused with theconnector circuit board.

It is possible to replace the finder mask 49 by another view fieldchanging device. The view field changing device may provide a thirdfield of view having the same aspect ratio as the full size frame of135-type. The field size selected for each frame by the view fieldchanging device may be electrically or photo-electrically detected torecord the field size as photographic data in the IC memory 15.

In the above described embodiments, one-chip microcomputer is used asthe recording control IC so as to program-control the recording in theIC memory. It is alternatively possible to use a recording control ICconstructed by many kinds of logic circuits and the like. An embodimentof the recording control IC of this type will be described below.

In FIG. 14 showing an electric construction of a unit body 180, acircuit unit 181 is supplied from a power source 34. A synchronizingswitch 33, a xenon electronic flash lamp 182 of a flash emitting portion31, and a mode switch 183 are connected to the circuit unit 181. Themode switch 183 is switched over in correspondence with the field ofview of the viewfinder. A photo film cartridge 2' having an IC memory 15incorporated therein is loaded in the unit body 180. The circuit unit181 includes a recording control IC 190, a crystal resonator 191, and aflash circuit 192. The recording control IC 190 determines if the flashis emitted, and which size of view field is selected, and records flashdata and view field size data as photographic data in the IC memory 15at each exposure. The recording control IC 190 continues to count thetime from the date of manufacture, and write the elapsed time in the ICmemory 15 along with the photographic data.

FIG. 15 shows the detail of the circuit unit 181 and the peripheralcircuits, and FIG. 16 shows the detail of the recording control IC 190.The power source 34 supplies a drive voltage V3, e.g. about 1 volt, to aterminal Vcc1 of the recording control IC 190, and directly supplies apower source voltage VCC of 1.5 volt, to a terminal Vcc2. The recordingcontrol IC 190 is kept being active by the drive voltage V3. The powersource voltage VCC is raised up to a drive voltage VDD of 3 volt in therecording control IC 190, and the drive voltage VDD is supplied to theIC memory 15.

The mode switch 183 is turned on in cooperation with a finder mask whenthe finder mask is moved to change the field of view of the viewfinderfrom the standard size to the panoramic size. An output signal generatedwhen the mode switch 183 is turned on is received as a panorama signalby the recording control IC 190. The flash circuit 192 includes a maincapacitor, a charge circuit and a trigger circuit. The flash circuit 192charges the main capacitor while a charge switch 35, and in response toa synchronizing signal SYNC which is generated when the synchronizingswitch 33 is turned on, applies a trigger voltage to the xenon lamp 182,causing the xenon lamp 182 to flash. The flash circuit 192 furtherincludes a flash detection circuit 196 for detecting whether the flashis effected or not. For example, the flash detection circuit 196 is asemiconductor switch which is turned on for a given time to output aflash signal to the recording control IC 190, upon the xenon lamp 182flashing.

As shown in detail in FIG. 16, the recording control IC 190 isconstituted of a resonance circuit 200, an hour generator 201, an hourcounter 202, a write operating circuit 203, a parallel/serial (P/S)converter 204, a voltage doubler 205, and an initializing circuit 206.The resonance circuit 200 is connected to the crystal resonator 191, tooutput a clock signal CLK at a constant frequency to the hour generator201. The hour generator 201 is constructed by a multiple asynchronousbinary counter which divides the frequency of the clock signal to outputan hour-clock pulse HP at every hour to the hour counter 202. The hourcounter 202 is reset to zero in a manufacturing process by an externalreset signal RST, and is able to count the time elapsed from themanufacture, for example, up to 32,768 hours, that is, about 3.7 years.The elapsed time data or hour count data from the hour counter 202 issent in parallel to the P/S converter 204. The reset signal RST is alsoapplied to the hour-clock generator 201 and the write operating circuit203 to initialize them simultaneously with the reset of the hour counter202.

The write operating circuit 203 controls writing in the IC memory 15 ofthe photo film cartridge 2'. The write operating circuit 203 determinesif the panorama signal and the flash signal are entered a certain timeafter the synchronizing signal SYNC is entered. The write operatingcircuit 203 sends the photographic data corresponding to the result ofthe determination, to the P/S converter 204. Simultaneously with writingthe photographic data, the write operating circuit 203 activates thevoltage doubler 205. Also, the write operating circuit 203 outputs alatch signal to the P/S converter 204 upon receipt of the synchronizingsignal SYNC, to set the elapsed time data from the hour counter 202 inthe P/S converter 204.

The voltage doubler 205 is activated by the write operating circuit 203only while writing the IC memory 15. The voltage doubler 205 isconnected to the battery 34 through the terminal Vcc2, to convert thepower source voltage VCC into the drive voltage VDD for the IC memory15, so that the power of the battery 34 is efficiently utilized.

The P/S converter 204 converts the photographic data from the writeoperating circuit 203 and the elapsed time data from the hour counter202 into serial data SDA and sends it to the IC memory 15. The writeoperating circuit 203 receives a clock signal which is obtained bydividing the clock signal from the resonance circuit 200. The clocksignal is sent as synchronizing clock SCL from the write operatingcircuit 203 to the IC memory 15. Synchronously with the synchronizingclock SCL, the serial data from the P/S converter 204 is written one bitafter another.

The initializing circuit 206 initializes the IC memory 15 in response toan initializing signal INIT which is entered by an external device in amanufacturing step. The IC memory 15 is EEPROM which is driven by thevoltage of 3 volt (=VDD). The write operating circuit 203 counts theaddress for each frame and for each kind of data written in the ICmemory 15, and sends the count of the address through the P/S converter204 to the IC memory 15, so as to write the data in a designatedaddress.

An interface (I/F) circuit 210a of an external computer 210 is connectedto a not-shown interface port of the circuit unit 81. Through this I/Fcircuit 210a, the computer 210 enters first the initializing signal INITto initialize the IC memory 15, and then enters the reset signal RST toinitialize or reset the hour-clock generator 101, the hour counter 102and the write operating circuit write operating circuit 203 in themanufacturing step. The date and time of the initialization is writtenas the date-of-manufacture data in the IC memory 15 as fundamental data,in addition to unit ID data. A command for reading or writing the ICmemory 15 is entered by operating the computer 210.

FIG. 17 shows the sequence of the photographic system for the film unitof this embodiment. The recording control IC according to the embodimentshown in FIGS. 14 to 17 is applicable to recording the IC memory 14 ofthe embodiment shown in FIG. 1.

Although the present invention has been described with respect to thefilm units shown in the drawings, the present invention is applicable toa camera having no magnetic recording device. Even for a camera having amagnetic recording device, the present invention would improveefficiency and density of magnetic recording on the photo filmstrip.

Although the unit ID data is recorded on the magnetic recording track ofeach frame in the above described embodiments, it is possible to recordthe unit ID data on the leading magnetic recording track 96 alone, sincethe unit ID data is common to all the frames of the photo filmstripexposed in the film unit. However, since the IX 240 type photo filmcartridge permits being transferred between cameras before all availableframes are exposed, camera ID data is assumed to be magneticallyrecorded by each frame. In order to process the photo film cartridgesexposed in the film units together with those exposed in the cameras inthe photo-lab, it is desirable to record the unit ID data by each frame.If the camera with the magnetic recording device is adapted to recordflag data on the magnetic recording layer to indicate whether or not thephoto film cartridge is unloaded before the completion of exposure ofall available frames, it is preferable to write in the IC memory 15 or14 in advance in a manufacturing step of the film unit, to indicate thatphoto film cartridge contained in the film unit is not transferred.

If the user forwards the photo film cartridge 2' or the film unit to thephoto-shop, ordering the printing, before all available frames have beenexposed, the IC memory 15 or 14 stores merely the photographic data ofthe exposed frames. For example, when the number of available frames is40, while the number of exposed frames is 30, the system controller 82skips recording on the magnetic recording tracks 98a, 98b . . . ofleading ten frames with reference to the perforations 6b, following therecording on the leading magnetic track 96. Thereafter, the systemcontroller 82 restarts recording from the magnetic track of the eleventhframe in the order from the leading end, that is, the last exposed framein this instance. It is possible to record data on the leading magnetictrack 96, to indicate that 30 of the 40 available frames are exposed.

As described so far, the present invention should not be limited to theabove described embodiments but, on the contrary, various modificationmay be possible to those skilled in the art without departing from thescope of claims attached hereto.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of recording data on a magneticrecording layer of a photo filmstrip which is exposed in a lens-fittedphoto film unit, comprising the steps of:A. writing data in an IC memoryat each exposure through a data recording device, said IC memory andsaid data recording device being provided in a unit body containing saidphoto filmstrip and a cartridge shell; B. winding said photo filmstripinto said cartridge shell one frame after each exposure; C. removingsaid cartridge shell containing a full length of said photo filmstriptherein from said unit body; D. reading said data from said IC memory ofsaid unit body by an external device connectable to an interfaceterminal of said data recording device, which is exposed to outside ofsaid unit body; and E. recording said data by said external device onsaid magnetic recording layer of said photo filmstrip before printing.2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising the step of writingdata specific to said lens-fitted photo film unit in said IC memoryduring manufacturing.
 3. A method according to claim 1, wherein saidcartridge shell is able to advance a leader of said photo filmstrip tooutside of said cartridge shell in response to rotation of a spool ofsaid cartridge shell in an unwinding direction, and wherein said step Eis executed while said photo filmstrip being withdrawn from and thenrewound back into said cartridge shell.
 4. A lens-fitted photo film unitcontaining a cartridge shell in a cartridge chamber and a roll of photofilmstrip in a film roll chamber such that said photo filmstrip is woundinto said cartridge shell one frame after each exposure, saidlens-fitted photo film unit comprising:an IC memory incorporated intosaid cartridge shell; an interconnection device mounted to saidcartridge chamber, said interconnection device being connected to saidIC memory of said cartridge shell contained in said cartridge chamber,and having an external terminal exposed to an exterior of said cartridgechamber; a flash circuit board having a flash circuit of a built-inflash device mounted thereon, said flash circuit board being attached toa front of said film roll chamber; a data recording circuit mounted onsaid flash circuit board, for recording data in said IC memory, saiddata recording circuit having an extension extending from said flashcircuit board toward said cartridge chamber; and a data output terminaldisposed on a tip of said extension, for outputting said data to saidexternal terminal of said interconnection device through a contactconnection or a non-contact connection.
 5. A lens-fitted photo film unitaccording to claim 4, wherein said data output terminal and saidexternal terminal are connected through a plug-in connection.
 6. Alens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 4, wherein said extensionis formed integrally with said flash circuit board.
 7. A lens-fittedphoto film unit according to claim 4, wherein said interconnectiondevice comprises a printed circuit board attached to said cartridgechamber in a removable fashion, a plurality of metal contact pinsmounted to said printed circuit board and protruding into said cartridgechamber to contact a contact member of said cartridge shell connected tosaid IC memory, and said external terminal formed integrally with saidprinted circuit board.
 8. A lens-fitted photo film unit according toclaim 7, wherein said contact member is disposed on an end face of saidcartridge shell that is oriented upward in said cartridge chamber, andsaid printed circuit board is mounted on a top wall of said cartridgechamber, at least an opening being formed through said top wall of saidcartridge chamber to inlet said metal contact pins.
 9. A lens-fittedphoto film unit according to claim 7, wherein said external terminal ofsaid interconnection device is oriented forward of said lens-fittedphoto film unit, and said data output terminal of said data recordingdevice is oriented rearward of said lens-fitted photo film unit, suchthat said data output terminal is connected to said external terminalonly by attaching said flash circuit board to the front of said filmroll chamber.
 10. A lens-fitted photo film unit containing a cartridgeshell in a cartridge chamber and a roll of photo filmstrip in a filmroll chamber such that said photo filmstrip is wound into said cartridgeshell one frame after each exposure, said lens-fitted photo film unitcomprising:an IC memory incorporated into said cartridge shell; aninterconnection device mounted to said cartridge chamber, saidinterconnection device being connected to said IC memory of saidcartridge shell contained in said cartridge chamber, and having anexternal terminal exposed to an exterior of said cartridge chamber; aflash circuit board having a flash circuit of a built-in flash devicemounted thereon, said flash circuit board being attached to a front ofsaid film roll chamber; a print format selection device manuallyoperable to select a print format of each frame before each exposure; aprint format detection device for detecting the print format selected bysaid print format selection device; and a data recording circuit mountedon said flash circuit board, said data recording circuit being connectedto said print format detection device, to a synchronizing switch whichis turned on at each exposure, and to said external terminal of saidinterconnection device, so as to record data representative of theselected print format of each frame in said IC memory synchronously witheach exposure.
 11. A lens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 10,wherein said IC memory is an EEPROM.
 12. A lens-fitted photo film unitaccording to claim 10, wherein said print format selection devicecomprises a finder mask which may be inserted in and removed from afield of a viewfinder of said film unit, and said print format detectiondevice comprises a photo sensor for detecting the position of saidfinder mask.
 13. A lens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 10,further comprising a flash detection device for detecting whether saidflash device is actuated or not, said flash detection device beingconnected to said data recording circuit so as to record the result ofdetection of said flash detection device in said IC memory.
 14. Alens-fitted photo film unit according to claim 10, wherein said photofilmstrip has a magnetic recording layer on a back surface reverse to aphotosensitive emulsion layer, whereas said cartridge shell is able toadvance a leader of said photo filmstrip to outside of said cartridgeshell in response to rotation of a spool of said cartridge shell in anunwinding direction.
 15. A lens-fitted photo film unit containing acartridge shell in a cartridge chamber and a roll of photo filmstrip ina film roll chamber such that said photo filmstrip is wound into saidcartridge shell one frame after each exposure, said lens-fitted photofilm unit comprising:a flash circuit board having a flash circuit of abuilt-in flash device mounted thereon; a print format selection devicemanually operable to select a print format of each frame before eachexposure; a print format detection device for detecting the print formatselected by said print format selection device; a data recording deviceincluding an IC memory, said data recording device being mounted on saidflash circuit board, and connected to a synchronizing switch which isturned on at each exposure and to said print format detection device, soas to record data of the selected print format in said IC memorysynchronously with each exposure; and an interface terminal mounted onsaid flash circuit board and exposed to outside of said lens-fittedphoto film unit, for allowing an external device to access to said ICmemory.